UPDATE: Debate rages on access to Lake County sheriff's office RIMS

Three county supervisors Friday urged Sheriff Frank Rivero to give the Lakeport Police Department (LPD) and county probation officials their previous levels of access to the sheriff's office records information management system (RIMS) until a long-term solution could be reached.

The sheriff, who cut off the agencies' access Tuesday, said he would deny the request, which came as part of a threefold motion approved during a special Board of Supervisors (BOS) meeting.

The supervisors also asked the sheriff and district attorney to request that the California Attorney General's Office conduct a full audit of county RIMS access. Additionally, they created a discussion group of local law enforcement agencies and other public officials to hash out RIMS-access issues.

Supervisors Rob Brown, Jim Comstock and Denise Rushing -- the only three BOS members present at the special meeting -- voted unanimously on the moves at the end of a nearly three-hour debate at the Lake County Courthouse.

"It's unfortunate that we've even come to this," Brown said. "Our law enforcement (countywide) has always, always historically had a good relationship because we're limited in our resources."

While expressing his opposition to Rivero's decisions, Comstock invoked the memory Richard Helbush, a sheriff's sergeant slain in 1981 after stopping to help stranded motorists who also happened to be wanted for murder.

"One of the reasons he was killed was because information was not shared enough for him to know what he was coming upon," the supervisor said. "This information needs to be openly shared."

The RIMS dispute started Tuesday, when Rivero said he took away the two agencies' access without notice after conducting a routine system audit and deciding to rein in the number of people who could log in and obtain private information about citizens.

"There's absolutely no public-safety concerns involved in this. I dispute that," the sheriff said during the BOS meeting. "Information that is put in (RIMS) is very sensitive, including information on child victims and other things that general public would not want released to just anyone."

The sheriff gave LPD supervisors temporary access Tuesday afternoon but rescinded it Thursday morning after he claimed he found evidence of city police misusing the system.

"I submit that these are simply the sheriff's allegations and he does not know that these are in fact violations," LPD Chief Brad Rasmussen told the BOS. "He has provided me with copies of allegations, and my agency is now reviewing those."

As for probation, Rivero offered to give one department official access, as opposed to the previous total of 15. Chief Probation Officer Rob Howe has not accepted the proposal, which he called "inconvenient and inefficient."

LPD would use the county RIMS to access dispatch-generated records, such as daily police logs, booking records, stats for grant-writing and call information, according to Rasmussen. Probation would access the system to update information on probationers and obtain details used to write reports for the courts, Howe said.

A majority of the nearly 100 people who attended the BOS meeting were current or former law enforcement officials.

The decisions to cut off RIMS access serve as another example of Rivero's "inability to work collaboratively with allied law-enforcement agencies for the betterment of the community," Rasmussen told the supervisors. More than a dozen uniformed LPD officers and volunteers stood next to their chief while he spoke.

Rasmussen also explained some of the reasons he searched the sheriff's office RIMS this year, saying he looked up information on wanted subjects, registered sex offenders and felons.

The LPD chief wanted Rivero to restore the previous access-levels immediately until officials from both departments could sit down and discuss the issues.

Rasmussen and other Lakeport officials argue the sheriff may have breached the contract outlining how the county would provide dispatch services for the LPD.

Rivero argued the LPD is only entitled to computer-aided dispatching (CAD) information and said he has now provided those items through a mechanism other than RIMS.

"That information is not coming as he stated it would," Rasmussen said.

Later in the meeting, District Attorney Don Anderson talked about Rivero taking away DA investigators' RIMS access in April 2011, saying the sheriff did so out of spite.

"Two years ago we had a wonderful tool in law enforcement, extremely wonderful; that was cooperation between agencies. Unfortunately, we don't have that now," the DA said.

Rivero contended he suspended DA's Office access because he had evidence of system misuse.

"It's a sad day in law enforcement that we are here," Clearlake Police Chief Craig Clausen said to the supervisors.

Clausen's department, which has its own dispatch center, has read-only access to the sheriff's office RIMS through an interoperability agreement.

LPD Officer Gary Basor, speaking on behalf of the officers' union, said Rivero's decision "will result in our officers being less informed about subjects we come in contact with. We consider this a major public-safety and officer-safety issue."

"This about public privacy, and it is a safety issue when RIMS is accessed illegally," county resident Bruce Forsythe said in support of the sheriff. "Nobody here wants somebody not authorized to access those RIMS files."

After listening to almost 2 1/2 hours of public discussion, the trio of supervisors voted unanimously to make the three recommendations on the RIMS issues.

Rivero said afterward that he would not restore LPD and probation to their previous access-levels. He said he would be willing to share RIMS information with the LPD and other agencies in situations in which a need existed, but not full access to the system.

The sheriff expressed support for participating in a discussion group and asking the state attorney general to conduct an independent audit of sheriff's office RIMS access. The DA also said he would support the outside review.

Lakeport city officials said they are looking at all options, including potential legal action, to try to regain the information needed to protect their police officers and citizens.

"We'll do whatever is necessary to keep our officers and the public safe," Lakeport City Manager Margaret Silveira said.

Supervisors Anthony Farrington and Jeff Smith were absent from the special meeting, reportedly out of town with no regular BOS meeting scheduled for next week.

Rivero had several brief back-and-forth jousts with Brown and Comstock.

After listening to one suggestion from Brown, Rivero asked, "So what you're saying is you want to run the sheriff's office?"

The supervisor retorted, saying, "No, I do not want to run the sheriff's department. I want the sheriff to run it in an appropriate manner."